On XML Languages…

Some XML languages have an XML syntax, some have a non-XML syntax, and some have both. This paper explores the intersection of these languages and syntaxes. What are the advantages of an XML syntax? What are the advantages of a non-XML syntax? After discussing the general issues, the paper presents two, alternative non-XML syntaxes for XProc as a case study to further explore the issues.

Serialisation, abstraction, and XML applications

In principle the advantages of abstraction in programming are well understood. Yet daily interactions with everyday objects can lead us to confuse the concrete with the abstract, and think that the thing we are dealing with *is* the abstraction. Getting the right level of abstraction can have profound consequences. I believe that there are things we are struggling with today that are the consequences of a mistake in an abstraction made in the 1970's. This talk will be about data abstractions, and how we use them in XML applications, with a passing reference to the developments in XForms 2.0, and how declarative applications can make your life easier (or save you money, depending on who's doing the actual work).

Utilizing new capabilities of XML languages to verify integrity constraints

In this work, we show how integrity constraints expressed using Object Constraint Language (OCL) can be verified using XML technologies - Schematron, XPath/XQuery and XSLT - and using Model Driven Architecture (MDA) principles. Some constructs typical for OCL constraints are different from the methods used in XPath/XQuery expressions. That is why for translating some OCL expressions, the standard XML toolset must be extended. We introduce such extension for the 2.0 versions of the languages, but with the new features and constructs proposed in drafts for XSLT 3.0, XPath 3.0 and XQuery 3.0, the transition from OCL is much more seamless and transparent. Higher-order functions, maps, error-recovery instructions etc. provide us with necessary power to translate a general OCL expression and we discuss in detail their potential.

Developing Low-Cost Functional Class 3 IETM

This paper will describe an approach that was taken by Cobham Mission Systems Division in Orchard Park, New York for delivering a Class 3 Interactive Electronic Technical Manual (IETM). Cobham Mission Systems Division develops life support systems for the aviation industry and NASA. John Glenn, and every astronaut since, has used Cobham's oxygen pressure-regulator. The original oxygen pressure-regulator that John Glenn used in his first trip into space is displayed prominently in Cobham's lobby in Orchard Park. After this presentation a demonstration of the IETM will be provided.

TCS tcs: Tata Consultancy Services trash compactor script

Creation of representative sample(s) of a large document collection can be automated using XSLT. Such samples will be useful for analysis, as a preliminary document analysis step in vocabulary redesign or conversion and to guide design of storage, editing, and transformation processing. Design goals are: to work intuitively with default configuration and no schema, produce plausible output, and produce a range of outputs from a large representative set to a short but highly complex sample document. The technique can be conceptualized in passes: annotate structures as original or redundant; keep wrappers to accommodate original markup found lower in the hierarchy; retain required children and attributes; and collapse similar structures. Possible settings include redundancy thresholds, text compression techniques, target length, schema-awareness, schema intuitions, how much context to preserve around kept elements, and whether similar structures should be collapsed (overlaid).

Encoding Transparency: Literate Programming and Test Generation for Scientific Function Libraries

We present a variation on literate programming (see Knuth: 1984, 1992) targeting multiple simultaneous readerships, both human (e.g., coders, testers, analysts, etc.) and compilers/interpreters (e.g., C++, Python, Fortran, etc.). The technique exploits existing commenting syntax available in all common programming languages to provide inline documentation and other semantic markup, which can then be used in test generation and code translation. To keep the problem manageable, we restrict attention to scientific function libraries (i.e., libraries of numerical routines adhering to the functional programming rule of “no side effects”). We offer a prototype implementation in XSLT and DocBook.

The Ontologist

This paper covers the design details of the Ontologist, a MarkLogic based project for using RDF triples, XQuery search capabilities and RESTful services to provide controlled vocabularies, taxonomy management and semantic wikis.

Schematron in the Context of the Clinical Document Architecture (CDA)

The Clinical Document Architecture (CDA), created by Healthcare Level 7 HL7 is widely used in healthcare. Its scope is any clinical document or report. The (single) CDA schema that is used to validate all of these reports is derived from a UML model. The element names reflect specializations of various concepts, while the attribute values can refine element meaning, add flavor to the parent/child relationship, reverse the subject and object of a compound expression, negate the meaning, or explain the absence of a value. Separately-defined prose constraints represent the requirements for individual document types such as a Procedure Note or a public-health accounting of bloodstream infections. These report-specific constraints are, of course, not defined in the general CDA.xsd schema. Although the element-attribute relationships can be tested using the schema, the value-driven conditional and alternative rules are best tested using Schematron. We create Schematron and use it in conjunction with the CDA schema to confirm that the CDA documents conform to the relevant specific report constraints and requirements. The Schematron must itself be tested to ensure that the combination of W3C Schema and Schematron correctly checks the rules and that the Schematron error messages point comprehensibly to the real error. This paper presents the reasons for using Schematron for this validation, some of the processes used to test the Schematron during its development, and challenges.

Things stay the same, or, the real meaning of technical work

What does not change when things change.

XML Entropy Study

Reducing the impact of XML documents both in term of size and in term of processing speed has been the goal of many studies and research efforts, but never in a very formal or comprehensive manner. To strengthen the foundations of those works, we present here a comprehensive formal study of the quantity of information contained in XML documents. We then compare those theoretical results to the effective compactness obtained by some existing binary XML formats.